Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A winning student team from Gulfport High School travels to Washington, D.C., next month for the final event of a national civic education competition.
GHS was among three Gulf Coast schools who recently visited Mississippi State to be tested on their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Biloxi and St. Patrick Catholic high schools also were at the university for the 2010 We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution state-level challenge. (St. Patrick also is in Biloxi.)
A total of some 65 students took part from the three Harrison County schools. Divided into six groups, the teams made four-minute presentations, followed by six minutes of questioning by a team of judges.
Led by social studies teacher DeAnna Roessling, the 29-member Gulfport group will be in the nation's capital April 24-25 for the concluding We the People contest.
"'We the People' is the premier academic competition of its kind for high school students," said Susie Burroughs, the program's state coordinator. Burroughs also is interim head of the MSU College of Education's curriculum, instruction and special education department.
"The 65 Mississippi students who took part this year logged in early morning, late night and weekend study sessions to reach the state finals," she observed. "The judges, all members of the MSU faculty and administration, were impressed with their knowledge of the Constitution and their ability of applying its principles to contemporary issues."
Ten faculty members from the colleges of Arts and Sciences and Education served as judges. They assessed students' knowledge of the Constitution, as well as their ability to apply its principles to contemporary issues.
Created in 1987 by an act of Congress and funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Center for Civic Education, We the People is part of curriculums at elementary, middle and high schools in every state. Over the years, the program has involved more than 30 million students and 81,000 teachers.
Burroughs said a recent survey of We the People alumni found that 90 percent of respondents voted in the November 2008 election, while more than 75 percent had voted in all previous elections for which they were eligible. Also, more than 55 percent had contacted a government official regarding a public issue during the previous 12 months.
For more information on the national program, visit www.civiced.org/index.php?page=wtp_introduction.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, contact Dr. Burroughs at 662-325-3747 or susie.burroughs@msstate.edu
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.